WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Democrats in South Florida are pushing back against the Trump administration as authorities ramp up mass deportation policies. Many Republicans, however, are defending them, expanding detention centers while doubling down on policies.
The Miami-Dade Democratic Hispanic Caucus said they will launch two brand-new billboards on the Turnpike and Southwest 88th Street on Monday, alongside mobile, digital billboards that will be able to be seen across parts of the county.
The development comes after launching a county-wide billboard campaign earlier this month that received national and international attention, targeting four Republican politicians who, they claimed, are betraying immigrants in South Florida.
In the first four days of Operation Tidal Wave, a joint immigration campaign between ICE Miami and Florida law enforcement agencies, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Monday the deportation of over 800 immigrants from Florida alone.
“We are in the beginning stages of carrying out the largest deportation campaign in American history,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “Among those arrested were a Colombian murderer, alleged MS-13 and 18th Street gang members, and a Russian with a red notice for manslaughter.”
The new billboards serve as further backlash to Florida Republican lawmakers, criticizing them for their response to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, calling them “traitors,” and saying to “protect immigrants.”
Krome Detention Center, facing its own catalogue of controversy, recently erected a brand-new two-story Plexiglas tent that was built to house up to 400 immigrant detainees.
“If they are actually building tents, a tent city, to house the overflow,” said US representative Frederica Wilson. “What are we going to gain as a nation by deporting young people who are in our country by no fault of their own?” Who were brought here as children?”
Although Representative Wilson said she did not personally see any cases of mistreatment during her visit, she is planning on making more visits to the facility. According to her, the tent could start housing detainees as soon as Friday.
Despite the backlash against the harsh nature of the immigration policies, the Trump administration maintained that they are doing what is necessary.
“The laws are very specific. If you’re in this country unlawfully, you have no right to be here, and you must be removed. That’s what the law says,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “Somehow over the last 20 years we’ve completely lost this notion that somehow or completely adopted this idea that yes, we have immigration laws, but once you come into our country illegally, it triggers all kinds of rights that can keep you here indefinitely. That’s why we were being flooded at the border.”
In South Florida, immigrants who are arrested are taken to Krome Detention Center in Southwest Miami-Dade, where recent claims by families of detainees say conditions have become inhumane, citing overcrowded rooms as well as the treatment of detainees.
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